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Australian Iraqi Christians stage protest against religious persecution in their homeland by ISIS

By Anne BarkerUpdated
Sun 3 Aug 2014, 12:39 PM AEST

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Around 5,000 protesters gathered in Sydney's Martin Place to protest against religious persecution in the Middle East by militant Islamist group ISIS.

ABC: Anne Barker

Thousands of Christians from Australia's Iraqi community have staged a protest in Sydney against religious persecution in their homeland by Islamist militants.

Members of the Assyrian, Syriac and Chaldean Christian communities have spoken out against attacks by the Islamist group Islamic State, formerly known the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

In the past year, the militants have seized control of a growing number of Iraqi cities and towns, including the mostly Sunni city of Fallujah in western Anbar province and more recently the strategic northern city of Mosul.

Protesters fear Iraq's dwindling Christian population, which once numbered in the millions, is under threat of disappearing forever.

The group claims it has established an Islamic caliphate covering parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.

Protest organisers told a crowd of up to 5,000 in Sydney that the insurgents were waging a campaign of terror against their Christian compatriots in Iraq, killing and kidnapping those who refuse to convert to Islam or leave the country altogether.

In areas under control of the militants, Christian homes have been marked with the Arabic letter "noon" - or N - which represents "Nazarene", a term meaning Christian in Arabic.

Protester Neneveh Yakoup said the militants had destroyed or occupied scores of Christian buildings and institutions in Mosul in the two months since its takeover.

"We have already seen the destruction of our heritage... 1,800 churches razed to the ground," she said.

"[There have been] tombs of biblical figures destroyed, ancient monuments levelled, the history of the entire region gone. The people gone. What will be left? Where will we go?"

Speakers at the Sydney rally say the Assyrian, Syriac and Chaldean people can trace their ethnic and cultural origins to the indigenous populations of ancient Mesopotamia, which includes modern day Iraq.

Community leader Samir Yousif urged Australia and other foreign governments to do more to stop the spread of militant Islam in Iraq and protect Iraqi Christians.

"The only way we can stop this persecution is for the international community to step in and encourage and help the Iraqi Government to be a government for all people, regardless of their religious, sect or belief," he said.

Christians in Iraq and across the Middle East have faced centuries of persecution.